On Thursday 22 May 2025 Dr. Sarah Hamilton (University of Bergen) will present this year’s RIAS Environmental History Lecture Towards a Global History of Large-Scale Groundwater Exploitation
Title Lecture: Towards a Global History of Groundwater
Lecturer: Sarah Hamilton
Date: Thursday 22 May 2025 at 16:30 – 17:30 (doors open at 16:00)
Location: Auditorium, Zeeuws Archief, Hofplein 16, Middelburg
What is the history of groundwater exploitation? Groundwater, often invisible yet crucial, has become an increasingly important resource in the global fight for water security. However, its extraction and use have not always been well understood or regulated.
In this Environmental History Lecture, historian Sarah Hamilton invites you to explore the vertical dimensions of water history. Focusing on case studies from Australia, California, and Spain, this lecture examines how large-scale groundwater exploitation developed through global flows of technology, science, and policy, often outpacing regulation and leading to long-term ecological consequences.
Through a deep dive into the challenges of groundwater’s invisibility and the resistance from long-standing groundwater users to oversight, we will understand how these dynamics have shaped water governance, technological progress, and political struggles worldwide. This lecture makes the case for a new way of thinking about water—one that considers the complex relationship between surface and subsurface water, with implications for our understanding of environmental history and the Anthropocene. Join us as we uncover the global commonalities in groundwater histories and rethink the role of vertical water systems in shaping our planet’s future.
Please register here
